About the Film

What people are saying about TRAILHEAD:

“TRAILHEAD is a tremendous tribute to the beauty of Oakland.”
BB Borowitz, Oakland resident

“WOW…an amazing video that will promote our park and our
outdoor culture for a long time to come.”
Emily Rosenberg, Chair, Friends of Joaquin Miller Park

“It left us both swelled with pride.”
Bryan Beyer, Oakland Realtor

TIMELINE: This film project was conceived in November, 2014. In partnership with the Oakland Parks & Recreation Foundation, and with the generosity of the surrounding community, fundraising was brisk and filming was accomplished over 15 days in March, 2015. The film premiered at the Chabot Space & Science Center on October 7, 2015, and after more than 30 public screenings in 26 Bay Area venues, it was released online on April 18, 2016.

THE STORY: This 20-minute film features the City of Oakland’s largest wildland trail system that connects neighborhoods to redwood forests and more than five hundred miles of trails that span the entire East Bay. Trail users, historians, creek restoration experts, local merchants, and park volunteers are among those interviewed during a typical park day that begins predawn in Oakland’s Dimond District, and concludes at sunset from a Joaquin Miller Park ridge overlooking downtown Oakland and San Francisco Bay.

Intended for Oakland residents and visitors alike, this documentary explores the unique urban to rural trail system that connects Oakland neighborhoods to the Bay Area Ridge Trail and beyond. The film highlights:

the history of Dimond Park, Dimond Canyon Park, and Joaquin Miller Park

Production Team

Emily Fraser – Co-Director/Producer, Cinematographer, Editor

Emily Fraser is a San Francisco Bay Area documentary filmmaker committed to finding poetry in the everyday while provoking discussion around pressing social and environmental issues. Her work has been shown around the country and the globe, with screenings at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Doc NYC, Columbus International Film + Video Festival, the University Film and Video Association Conference, the Water Environment Federation, and the Pacific Film Archive, among others. Emily has served as a filmmaker for the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Revs Program at Stanford, and the Boy Scouts of America, and as the coordinator of the Stanford Environmental Humanities Project’s annual environmental film series. In a previous life, she worked as an environmental consultant, focusing on projects in conservation, resource management, and alternative energy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental policy and art/architecture from the College of William and Mary and an M.F.A in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University. Emily lives and works in Oakland, CA as an independent filmmaker and is in development on her next documentary project, “Ghost Town.” http://emilyelizabethfilms.com/

Henry Wiener – Co-Director/Producer, Cinematographer, Editor

Henry Wiener, born and raised in Jackson, MS, received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, majoring in American Military History. After living and working in New York City for 5 years, Henry completed his MFA in Documentary Film at Stanford University in 2014. His films cover an eclectic group of subjects: Bay Area gun rights activists, a 21 year old female NASCAR driver, a Minor League baseball churro vendor, and a traveling Rabbi. All of these films tell stories of people who pursue life with special passion and energy, across a spectrum of American culture. henrywiener.com

Stan Dodson – Executive Producer

Stan Dodson, manager of La Farine Bakery in Oakland’s Dimond District, and past board member of the Dimond Improvement Association and Friends of Joaquin Miller Park, has worked as a volunteer to promote, maintain, and enhance the trail system that connects Dimond Park to the Bay Area Ridge Trail since 2008. Stan continues to provide leadership for community involvement up and down the hill, including producing the TRAILHEAD documentary, co-founding Oakland Volunteer Park Patrol, offering free hiking and mountain biking tours, and leading ongoing trail maintenance and enhancement projects in Oakland’s wildland parks. Through these efforts, Stan strives to inspire outdoor recreation and park stewardship while shining a bright light on the City of Oakland.